Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (68 page)

“Maybe we should talk more about this,” I suggested. “What are you planning?”

“Marcello and Katrina have been caught, as you know. They’re holding them awaiting me. Cosmo and Rafe are hunting Nestor. They will hold him too. I will deal with them then I’ll hunt my father and deal with him.”

“Deal with them how, uh…
exactly?
”

His mouth went hard, his eyes started burning in a scary way that (yes, I’m deranged) was totally fabulous and he answered immediately, “I will torture them until they scream their pleas for me to burn them. Then I will burn them.”

I wasn’t certain how I felt about that.

So I turned, pressing myself to him and whispered, “Darling, isn’t that a bit –?”

He interrupted me. “It is my culture, Leah. It’s how we deal with these things. It isn’t only accepted, it’s expected. And it will be done.”

“But you were married to Katrina,” I reminded him.

“And she attempted to attack you twice prior to the events ten days ago. That was enough for me to seek permission from The Council to hunt her and end her life. And they would have granted it, Leah. Without demure. But this was worse. Far worse. Not only did they penetrate a concubine’s home, manhandle her, frighten her and lie to her, they tied up her servant who also has my protection. Further, what Edwina told me they told you, they are planning revolution. So not only are their deaths expected, they are necessary for the safety of your people and, in a way, mine.”

I couldn’t deny that.

His hand left my jaw so his arm could wrap around me while he reminded me, “This is your world now, pet. You must learn to accept these things.”

I nodded because he was right. It was wild, it was scary but then again, I had a long time to get used to it.

“Do you have any more questions?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Then we must talk about The Claiming,” he stated.

I blinked.

“The what?” I asked.

“If you wish a mortal’s wedding, I’ll give you one. But we’ll also have a Claiming Ceremony.”

Oh my.

I felt my belly turn squishy.

“What’s a Claiming Ceremony?” I whispered and his face got soft at my tone and probably the look on my face and also probably the fact he heard my heart skip a beat.

“It’s our ceremony, pet. Words are spoken, I take of your blood, you take of mine then we share the words of claiming. Much like the mortal’s ‘I do’.”

“And what are the words of claiming?” I was still whispering.

“Until the sun falls from the sky,” he whispered back.

That was nice. He said that earlier to me. I loved it then and now I loved it more knowing its meaning.

“I like that,” I told him softly and he grinned.

Then he spoke. “For us, it will be real and right now, I need to know you understand that.”

“Understand?”

“That it’s real.”

“That what’s real?”

“That we will be together until the sun falls from the sky.”

Oh yes. That was nice and I loved it.

“I told you I liked it.”

“You told me, Leah, but you’re forty years old. I’m eight hundred and twenty-two. I have a fair understanding of what immortality means. You have no idea. Although it was understandable, it was a loss to all of us when Isobel’s mother took her life. Living forever may seem alluring but life is the same whether you’re mortal or immortal. There are highs and lows, good times and bad. And, bottom line, there’s a lot of time. A lot of time to travel, read, make love, eat and a lot of time to disagree, fight, get frustrated with each other. And there will be a lot of time to get bored.”

“I never get bored,” I informed him.

“Everyone gets bored,” Lucien informed me.

“Well, I don’t unless I have absolutely nothing to do like when you left me in the house with no wheels and no books and that was an extreme circumstance. Still, I found something to do. And, if you’re with me,” I grinned at him, “
you
won’t get bored either.”

Lucien returned my grin then leaned in and touched his mouth to mine. But when he pulled back, his face was serious.

“You’ll well outlive your entire family, sweetling,” he warned gently.

My mood subdued at a thought I hadn’t yet had. A thought that really stunk.

But I nodded and whispered, “Yes, but I’ll also get the chance to know their children. And their children’s children. So I’ll always, in some way, have family.”

“That’s a nice way to look at it,” he muttered and I felt my lips tip up.

Then I pressed even closer and told him, “I know what you’re trying to make me understand, darling. And I can’t tell the future. But I’m looking forward to it, as long as it seems, as far as it goes, as long as you’re in it.”

He pulled me tight to him, his mouth descending to mine, his tongue sliding inside as he rolled to his back, shifting under me. My hands went into his hair on either side of his head to hold him to me even though he wasn’t going anywhere. His hands went up my shirt to my bare ass, his fingers curving in to hold me to him and I was definitely going nowhere.

I broke my mouth from his, slid it down to his ear and whispered, “I could study to be a doctor.” Then I slid my lips to the hinge of his jaw and kept whispering. “And when I get bored of that, I could study to be a sculptor.” My lips moved to his neck. “Then I could become a lawyer.” My lips moved to his throat. “And I’d have centuries to my perfect my béarnaise sauce.”

I felt his body shaking under mine, his fingers pressed into the cheeks of my ass and my head went up so I could smile down at him.

Then the smile slid away from my face and I whispered, “I’ll never get bored, darling.”

His heated eyes turned soft then suddenly I was on my back with Lucien covering me.

I caught my breath at this maneuver but understood it five seconds later when I heard the clinking and jingling of a cart being rolled into the room.

“Dinner,” the hotel butler called. “I’ll set it at the table in the sitting room. Is that okay with you?”

“Perfect,” Lucien answered, his eyes on me.

I giggled.

The butler laid out our food.

Then Lucien’s gaze roamed over my face.

“Perfect,” he repeated on a whisper and my stomach dropped

Then his head descended and he resumed kissing me.

The Future

Her fists in his hair became insistent.

He felt it, stopped feeding, lashed his tongue along the wound and gave his bride what she wanted.

He tipped his head back and looked at her.

She slid down, filling herself full of him, her eyelids heavy, Christ, so beautiful.

But her focus was all on him.

“This is our eternity,” she whispered and his arms, already wrapped around her, went so tight he felt it as the gentle wind of her breath stroked his face.

All he could see was her beautiful features. All he could feel was her body in his arms, her sex wrapped around his cock, her thighs pressed tight to his hips, her breasts to his chest, her arms curved around his shoulders holding him close. All he could smell was the overpowering scent of her excitement. All he could taste on his tongue was her blood mingled with her skin and her pussy. All he could hear was her heart beating, her excited breaths.

“This is our eternity,” he agreed quietly.

Her lids grew heavier even as she smiled an alluring smile.

“Give me beauty, my vampire,” she demanded.

Instantly, he flipped her to her back and gave into her demand.

* * * * *

Lucien’s eyes opened, the dream still on him. So real it was like it happened.

The moment his eyes opened, he felt Leah shift against him. His arm around her grew tighter. His other arm moved to circle her. She slid up his body and looked into his eyes.

Hers were wondrous, her lips parted.

Fucking hell, he loved that look.

But he knew.

He knew even before she whispered, “Darling, I just had
the best
dream.”

“This is our eternity,” he stated, his voice rough with sleep and her eyes got wider.

“You dreamed it too?” she asked.

Lucien nodded.

“Wow. Awesome,” she whispered.

He grinned thinking, sharing dreams like that with Leah, eternity, already sweet, just became sweeter.

Then his arms grew taut around her, he rolled her and continued living the dream.

* * * * *

Her scream still ringing around the room, Lucien stepped away while watching Katrina’s head drop.

“Now, you burn,” he said softly.

He watched her breathe, the effort visibly taxing and he did this for some time.

“You tried to teach me,” she whispered, hanging from her wrists pinned to the wall, her body limp, lifeless, nearly bloodless.

“It’s too late to tell me you’ve learned, Rina.” Lucien continued to speak soft.

To his shock, her sagging body slumped deeper.

He gave her time and, as he expected, she again spoke.

“I’m okay with this,” she went on in a whisper. “I couldn’t live without you.”

“I know,” he replied and watched her put extreme effort into lifting her eyes to him.

“Not at all,” she admitted. “Not even for a second.”

“I know,” he repeated.

“You love her?” she asked, the stamp of agony in her face twisting with new pain.

“Yes,” he answered shortly.

She’d endured enough. Now it was time for her pain to end. But just like Rina, she begged for more.

“I wanted you to love me like that,” she told him something he already knew.

Lucien made no reply.

“Why couldn’t you love me like that?” she asked.

“Rina, let Julian take you to the stake,” Lucien replied gently.

“Give me that before I die. Tell me why. Why couldn’t you love me like that?”

Lucien sighed then reminded her, “I’ve told you why.”

She smiled a humorless smile before she whispered, “I’ll listen now.”

He held her eyes.

Then he answered, “Because you wanted it so badly.”

“That’s not good?” she asked, genuinely perplexed.

Lucien shook his head. “The moment I understood Leah’s love for me caused her pain, I knew I had to let her go. Even knowing losing her I would lose everything. I was willing to sacrifice everything to ease her pain. And when I understood I loved her but if we stayed together our time would be short and end in tragedy, I understood this more completely. And I was determined to let her go to prolong her life in hopes, during it, she might find happiness. What you failed to learn is that true love is not selfish, Rina. It’s selfless.”

She gazed at him, even in her state the unhealthy, fevered, obsessive love she had for him burned in her eyes.

Quietly, he finished, “You never understood that.”

“No,” she whispered, “and I still don’t. Today, I die for my love for you, Lucien.”

“If it makes you feel better to believe that, Rina, then I’m pleased you do,” Lucien returned on a whisper.

She continued to gaze at him he knew in order to steal more of his time and attention.

But he was done.

He stepped away and jerked his chin at his son.

Julian moved forward.

Lucien didn’t watch as his son carried his ex-mate over his shoulder out of the room. Instead, he pulled out his phone and made three calls. Two were business. One was to Leah to tell her he’d be home soon.

She told him she was making her fried chicken.

This was something over the past week since they returned that he was growing accustomed to. A new nuance of his soon-to-be bride. She didn’t ask about the unpleasant business, simply waited for him to tell her if he so desired. But she was attuned to him. Now that he’d opened it to her, both of them could sense each other’s moods with an acuity that had nothing to do with body language, facial expressions or tone of voice. They tracked each other easily. So she knew when he had them and she made certain she did something, sometimes large, sometimes small, to make his unpleasant days end well.

He finished his call with Leah and moved outside. Bel was there. Stephanie. Rafe. Duncan. And Cristiano was there to represent The Council.

When Lucien arrived, Julian handed him the torch. Without delay, he threw it at the wood and kindling at Katrina’s feet.

And he gave her one last thing. Lucien held her eyes as she burned.

When she was no longer of this world, he left, leaving Cristiano to gather the ashes and scatter them to the winds.

* * * * *

Lucien sat back and yanked off the white gloves they’d asked him to wear before he handled the ancient parchments.